───

     AFTER RETURNING TO THE BROTHEL to cease chīsana's worries, the group had taken refuge at the nearby inn that itadori and rumi had booked.

     along with that came himari's explanation for how her wrists and back got hurt, to which the woman was now laying on her stomach, with rumi applying some medicine to her bruises.

     of course her chest was bound together by some bandages, and since she wasn't very shy, she had just asked for the boys to stay in the same room.

     "was lord nobunaga scary?", itadori asked, as himari had also spilled the tea on her encounter with the man.

     after all, she had great trust in the two teenagers.

"mmm...he was okay. I mean, he seems like a pretty chill dude", himari responded, wincing occasionally at the cold yet burning medicine.

"s-sorry!!", rumi apologized.

"nah, it's my own fault...for getting kicked?", the woman unsurely chuckled.

"so you're really going to accept the sixty-forty partnership with lord nobunaga?", rumi asked, trying to help himari forget the pain, as she started wrapping the herbal medicine with more bandages.

"pft, no! he's gonna give me fifty-fifty soon", himari confidently stated.

     "oh really? what are you going to do? become his second concubine?", gojō snorted, causing himari to flip the man off.

     "there's other way to things, you single-minded white slug!"

     sukuna let out a low chuckle as he overall wasn't very fond of the white-haired daimyo, so hearing him get insulted by himari, even slightly, satisfied his thirst for wishing to kill that man.

gojō obnoxiously gasped.

"EXCUSE YOU?! NEED I REMIND YOU THAT I WAS THE ONE THAT PAID FOR ALL YOUR EXPENDITURES?!"

"ONLY BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WANT TO SEEM LIKE YOU COULDN'T AFFORD TO SPOIL ME, YOU RAT!"

"A RAT?! DO I LOOK LIKE A MOTHERFUCKING RAT TO YOU?!"

"YEAH! YOU'RE LIKE THE THREE BLIND MICE FROM SHREK, YOU HOBO!"

"I—"

"himari, satoru, quit the bickering and come eat", getō interrupted, to which the two huffed, as himari slowly got up from her spot, letting rumi drape a fabric over her shoulders.

the woman then oohed at the lovely hotpot that was boiling in front of her.

"himari, would you like some prawns? I remember that being one of your favorites", rumi smiled, to which as soon as himari had turned her head to nod, her entire bowl was filled to the brim with peeled prawns.

     when the woman head turned back around, she slightly flinched, as she looked up at everyone, who was just casually eating.

     "w-was this always here?"

     "huh? oh, it was actually all—"

     sukuna immediately slapped a hand over itadori's mouth, making him protest in silence, as himari just shrugged, scratching the back of her head.

     without warning, tōji — who was right beside himari — had gripped tightly, yet not too harshly, onto the woman's jaw, forcing her mouth to open.

     the dark-haired man then stuffed a spoonful of rice and cut up prawns in her mouth.

"why are you feeding me? even if my wrists hurt, they're not brok—"

"himari, please eat with your mouth closed", getō interrupted, to which the woman had complied.

"anyways, how were you going to get lord nobunaga to agree?", itadori asked, quite interested in the woman's brilliant tactics.

"easy! through his concubine: lady kitsuno", himari replied, opening her mouth once again for tōji to feed her.

"huh? are you going to poison someone again?", itadori questioned, making himari almost choke on her food.

"oh my gege!! you make me sound like a villain! I was just going to help her with the after effects of her childbirth", himari casually answered.

"you know how to medically birth a child?", gojō asked, making the woman shrug.

"no, but I don't need to. lady kitsuno's health will decline after giving birth to two sons and one daughter. hence I'll offer nobunaga a fifty-fifty partnership in order for me to help his concubine regain her health", himari grinned, picking up her teacup as she proudly sipped some water.

     "hah? but how do you even know about all that stuff? and what if he says no?"

     "it's pretty predictable", himari lied, as the only reason she knew about this was because she had a history essay on oda nobunaga's life.

     "his official wife hasn't birthed him a child, and from what I've heard, he favors lady kitsuno very much. now tell me, would a man let his most beloved die to keep his pride, or lose a little bit of power to secure his lover's safety?"

"the latter one", itadori answered, making himari snap her fingers with a smile.

"bingo!"

"and you're not worried that I'll report your plan to the shogunate?", gojō grinned, meanwhile the woman had turned her head to the side.

     "hm? tōji do you hear anything?", himari asked.

     "nothing too important", tōji answered, cracking a small smirk, as he wiped a rice grain from the corner of the woman's lips.

     gojō felt an irk mark appear, as he let out a scoff.

     "but to answer your question, no. I trust you, and I don't think you'd be so concerned with the next ruler, as you can always easily pull them off the throne yourself", himari smiled, making gojō hum.

she was being truthful, as she knew that gojō had the abilities to reign an entire country, but he just didn't want to.

     "anyways, I'm full. you guys enjoy. I'm going to go work on the next steps of my genius plans", himari boasted, wobbling upwards, as she made her way towards the table in the corner of the room.

     meanwhile everyone had already headed to bed, himari was up rewriting how she should present the three stones to the shogunate.

     and bringing the man down was now a whole other ordeal.

himari softly sighed, as she propped her elbows on the table and covered her face with her palms.

"why so stressed?", a voice quietly asked, causing himari to slowly look up at the yawning tōji, who's hair was all over the place.

     "oh...nothing really...just a lot to think about for the future", himari replied, watching the man take a seat beside her, as he briefly skimmed over the papers.

     "you think too much", tōji stated, to which himari had let out a chuckle.

     "I have to. gotta make that bank to support my sugar baby, right?", himari joked, winking in the process, as tōji kept on his neutral expression.

"ahaha...not funny?"

tōji lifted his calloused hand, to which himari had shut her eyes, thinking that he was going to slap her for making such a joke.

"if you're doing this to make money just so that you keep my by your side...you don't have to", tōji seriously mumbled, holding the side of himari's face, as his fingers reached the woman's burning ears.

himari's lids fluttered open in surprise, absolutely not expecting that.

"I....h-huh?"

"you look tired. let's sleep", tōji commented, picking himari up with one sweep, as he blew out the candle.

the woman was then laid carefully on top of the man, as her back was still wrapped with medical herbs.

     "are you sure you're comfortable? you know, I could just sleep in my own futon...", himari whispered.

     "I'm fine. now sleep".

     himari softly let out a hum, as she felt a hand cradle her head, supporting her neck.

     tōji's thumb gently grazed her cheek, soothing her.

     "goodnight".